If you're a beginner car photographer, wondering why your pictures don't look as good as everyone else's, here are ten tips to get you on the right track.

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These ten points should get you started. If you're looking for something more, check out these excellent guides on Speedhunters. Those guys are the best.

10.) Do some research

There are thousands of pro car shooters out there. Just go to Flickr and have a look around. If you have a question about a particular photo, send them a message or hit the forums. The community will give you an idea where to start.

This isn't a technique thing, but I suggest that a great way to improve your photography is to …
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9.) Use a proper camera

Forget your bloody iPhone. I know the latest ones are remarkably capable, but they are phones nevertheless. What you want is a camera. A DSLR, or a mirrorless, or a very good compact, something that was designed to do one thing: shoot under the widest possible range of conditions.

7.) Think about the composition

RoT is one thing. It can't save you all the time.

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You're there, the car is there. That's great. Now think about what focal length to use, and check out what's in that frame. Do you want the car to fill it? How is the background? Any distractions? Play around, there's plenty of space on that memory card.

6.) Don't take pictures in a parking lot

Planning your location is important. If you can choose where to take the pictures, plan ahead and take your time to get the best place (preferably not your local parking lot) during the most ideal light conditions. It well worth the effort.

Try to find someplace more interesting than a shopping center parking lot as a location.
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5.) Get a tripod

Useable tripods/monopods are super cheap, and they're a must under low light conditions, in case you want to use the self timer, during long shoots or when you want to be as accurate angle-wise as possible.

4.) Experiment with long exposure

3.) Study light

Available light is almost always better than a built in flash, but if you spend more and learn how to use it, artificial lighting like strobes can do miracles, revealing details and shapes like you've never seen before.

For still life car photos, learn off camera lighting. I took this shot using several off camera…
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2.) Panning to capture speed

Use the lowest possible ISO settings with f/ value set to around 11-16 and a shutter speed that's roughly twice the speed of the car in km/h. That's the basic idea, and the result is the most dynamic shot you've ever managed to capture.

1.) Go the extra mile and try things

Welcome back to Answers of the Day - our daily Jalopnik feature where we take the best ten responses from the previous day's Question of the Day and shine it up to show off. It's by you and for you, the Jalopnik readers. Enjoy!